Fungi help scientists combat plastic waste

It is noteworthy that nearly a third of plastic waste in the world is polypropylene.

It is a durable plastic used to make bottle caps and food containers that can degrade over hundreds of years.

Recently, scientists from the University of Sydney were able to completely break down polypropylene in just 140 days, using two strains of microscopic fungi that live in the soil. Aspergillus terreus Engyodontium has eaten plastic materials during laboratory experiments.

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An article in this regard was published in the scientific journal Materials Degradation.

To date, more than 400 microorganisms have been discovered that naturally degrade plastics, and fungi have caught the attention of scientists due to their wide range of uses and powerful combination of enzymes.

On a basic chemical level, plastic is a chain of carbon atoms with different side chains that give each type of plastic material its distinctive properties. And there are so many different types of plastic that if you mix them together, it's almost impossible to recycle. The majority of plastic waste is either incinerated or thrown into landfill.

The fungus breaks down the plastic into simpler particles that can then be absorbed or excreted. The method requires a pre-treatment of the material with ultraviolet light, heat, or a chemical reagent.

The next step the researchers will take is to develop a type of technology that can be applied on an industrial scale.

Russian scientists devise a quick way to detect harmful substances in water

Albert Oyon, Director of Applied Biosystems, announced that the innovative new method can be used in water tanks, wells, and more.

In an interview with the Russian news agency TASS, Oyon indicated that Krasnodar scientists have devised a new method that, within five minutes, can detect harmful substances in the water.

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He says: “Our scientific team was able to devise a rapid system for detecting harmful (toxic) substances in water. The advantage of this technology lies in the use of a dry disk with a diameter of 3-5 mm in which all the components of the reaction mixture (enzymes - luciferase and others) depend on the level of brightness of the detector. Harmful substances in the water: the more polluted the water, the less the shine. The result appears in just five minutes.

According to him, in other tests, biological systems or frozen bacteria are used, which must be thawed and diluted, which makes the process complex and long.

He says: "This method, after the start of its series production, will be inexpensive and easy to use, as a person will be able to use it in a very short period to identify harmful substances in water tanks, wells, sources of drinking water, and soil."

Oyon points out that this technology will also be used to control weights on the body.

And he says, "But instead of water, the subject of detection will be the athlete's saliva during his training exercise. Because when the body is overburdened, the composition of saliva changes, and this technology detects this. That is, this method will allow those who exercise to control their physical activity and how they self-regulate."